I had a plumber walk out of my job today before even giving [...]]]>

Green building is not mainstream. The systems and habits are not in place. Doing a green job is part construction part education part experimentation because once you start thinking off the grid there are very few reference points to guide you.

I had a plumber walk out of my job today before even giving a bid. He couldn’t get his head around some of the things I’m doing. His last words were, “I hope what you are doing works out, but it’s not the way I do it.”

It is definitely not business as usual. We have different ways of installing our pex tubing and they were at odds with what he knew. I believe our way is better and I’m betting on it. We’ll see.

I had to go through several carpenters before I found one who was willing to do things my way. They are used to reaching out and grabbing a perfectly clean and sized piece of wood for their work. They have no part in preparing the wood. It comes from the lumber yard and all they have to do is put it in the house like Lego. There is something to be said for the efficiency of this.

But on my job they have to pick through a nasty pile of salvaged ugly wood, pull the nails and wires off, rip it to size and only then can they get back to their job. It takes some getting used to and there is no end of grumbling about it.

But I point out to them that I can pay them to do that or pay the lumber yard to get clean wood. From that perspective they have no problem with me paying them instead and the grumbling lessens.

I don’t pay for the wood. I pay a little more for the labor. In terms of my costs it comes out to the same, maybe a little cheaper. But it is not purely a financial issue.

By salvaging the wood I lessen the impact on land fill. I also lessen the amount of wood being cut down. I also get much better quality wood, since the salvaged wood is old growth and miles better than the crap you buy today.

IT COSTS PRETTY MUCH THE SAME FOR ME TO DO THIS YET THE BENEFITS IN MY EYES ARE MUCH HIGHER. This for me is a revolutionary concept. Clearly from the initial resistance I get from industry professionals it is a change from the status quot.

Going from this scrap to wall:

Originally the top facade of the building had a lot of rotted wood. And there was a great view. So in the heat of the summer I tore down the wall and planned on adding a wall of glass. It would have been magnificent.

But [...]]]>

Above: Facade with planter and recycled joists.

Originally the top facade of the building had a lot of rotted wood. And there was a great view. So in the heat of the summer I tore down the wall and planned on adding a wall of glass. It would have been magnificent.

But then as the cooler weather came I came to my senses and realized the large window was on the north side. To have it would be a huge heat drain on the house. I basically made a colossal mistake. This is green building 101.

So I took the windows I had already bought for the space and put them on the south side of the house. This creates a very powerful passive heating element as the sun pours into the house and heats it. Solar gain to the max.

Then I was faced with doing something with the gaping hole on the north side. Some of the old slate had been broken when we took down the wall so we had a problem. We didn’t have enough slate to built it back nor could we buy similar stuff. Do we take down the rest of the remaining slate and replace it or what? Taking it down is so not green.

So I decided to get a little artsy and use the slate we have for the lower part of the facade. For the upper part we are going to create siding out of salvaged wood joists. We are going to shape it in a “V” shape and at the base of the V we will put a large planter that will collect the water from the siding above it.

The planter will be made of two triangular sides attached to the facade to create a harmony of triangular shapes with the larger triangle formed by the siding.

Even though the planter box will be very well insulated and one of its three sides will be against a heated house we will use plants that don’t need sun or warmth since the cold winds can be harsh up there. Water probably won’t be an issue since we’ll use water retaining materials in the earth.

The planter will help insulate the north wall, provide greenery, allow us to recycle old joists and keep the existing slate. This is a great example of green building.

Pre Construction:
The truly green thing would have been to repair the damaged wood and leave the windows as they are in this picture. But in the heat of renovation we got these grand ideas to make a wall of glass. Being in an environment you love is green to but not at the expense of wasted energy when you can have just as nice windows but on the south side….

And so we tore the facade off:

But then we realized our mistake and tore the south wall down to put the already ordered windows there. The sun shines in wonderfully making a fantastic space and heating us up. In the summer this heat can be a problem so we plan on having good passive ventilation, blinds, and solar panels above the windows that will also act as awnings when the sun’s angle is high in the sky during the summer months. During the winter months the sun’s angle will be low enough to pass under the panels.
The south opening:

Recycling is a great way to reuse materials and save money. It is important to keep in mind the extra costs of recycling.

If you get the materials for free, say from a salvage, that is a great starting [...]]]>

Above Pic: “ugly” wood that I use for everything from studs to window frames.

Recycling is a great way to reuse materials and save money. It is important to keep in mind the extra costs of recycling.

If you get the materials for free, say from a salvage, that is a great starting point. It beats paying for it from a store.

But free or not you then have to have a use for it otherwise you need to pay to store it until the job is ready. This costs money.

Secondly, and this is often an issue with wood or metal studs, recycled material isn’t always clean. My carpenters have never felled a tree for wood. They are used to reaching their arm out and grabbing a perfectly cut clean piece of wood that fits exactly what they need. This is the consumer society we live in.

And I am always getting grief from my carpenters about this. I bring them ugly, nail ridden, odd sized wood and ask them to work with it. They don’t like it. It takes them precious time to clean the wood and size it for their needs.

In fact today one carpenter said he felt guilty because he was wasting so much of my time (=money) using the old wood instead of out of the box new wood.

But the important thing to understand is that it is still better. I would rather pay my carpenter the money instead of the store. Despite the obvious benefits of recycling etc, I’m still saving money.

I may pay the carpenter $20 extra but I save $15 because I didn’t pay for the wood. Even if I wasn’t saving any money at all I would still do it.

It makes too much sense not to do it. It means my carpenters need to slow down. It means my studs won’t be nice and clean looking. But it also means I’ve saved some trees, the wood is stronger than the crap they speed grow today, I’m lessened the landfill burden, and I might even save some money!

The only problem is that this product is costly. And [...]]]>

After some research we noticed that one of the most effective ways to reduce impact noise between floors was to put a recycled tyre product between the floor and sub floor. It creates a vibrating cushion that absorbs the impact, thus deadening the sound.

The only problem is that this product is costly. And costly is not green in the slightest.

So we went to the mechanic down the road. He was more than happy to give us some used tires. He has to pay to dispose of them into the landfill. We took the tires and cut them into little strips.

The strips were placed wherever a stud or support beam made contact with the floor above, creating a sound impact barrier between the two floors. Kids jumping, heavy boots and games of basketball should all become less audible from the neighbors above thanks to our technique.

Cutting the tires into strips.

Placing the tire under the joists.

The same tire pictured above but now we have put the support beam beneath it. The tire now acts as a sound barrier between the joists and the beam, breaking the vibration that would normally pass from the joist to the beam and the floor below.

Here is an example of the tire placed between the stud and the footer. It is better to place the tire between the stud and the header to stop sound coming from above. But in this case the stud was supporting the stairs so it didn’t matter.

Green Building is like life: it is all about energy. How you control it, who has it, where it is flowing, and where it isn’t flowing. You control the energy and you have a great house (possibly a great life too).

So obviously insulation plays [...]]]>

Insulation from Eco Brooklyn Inc with Gennaro Brooks-Church

Green Building is like life: it is all about energy. How you control it, who has it, where it is flowing, and where it isn’t flowing. You control the energy and you have a great house (possibly a great life too).

So obviously insulation plays a huge part ini green building. Green building typically insulates a lot more than normal building. We’d rather spend more up front and less later in utility bills. Utility bills are wasteful and in imperfection. Ideally we will get to the point that houses are built so well that you don’t have any utility bills.

In terms of insulation there are many choices. Of course fiberglass batts are out. They have a lot of embodied energy, most off gas formaldehyde and they don’t even insulate well.

Icenyne spray foam is touted as green and although it seals well it is so not green. That is the biggest scam in the green building industry. All spray foam is made from petro chemicals, even the so called soy based foam that has at most 30% soy and 70% petrolium. The main ingredient for all of them is isocyanate, which is only made by four multy billion dollar companies and it is basically oil.

The greenest insulation is cellulose. Recycled paper. Recycled is always the greenest way to go.

BUT all insulation, foam, fiberglass and cellulose only gets around an R4 per inch and in space starved Brooklyn I wanted more. I found a company that sells once used (READ RECYCLED) foam board called POLYISO. Read this to see how great it is. At only 1.5 inches thick it packs at least an R9 and is by far the best R value out there.

And because it is once used it has already off gassed any small amounts of VOC’s it might have had.

I need about 2000 square feet of it. I’m going to put 4 layers in the roof plus a radiant barrier to make a whopping R36 and this does not include the green roof on top. Insulating the roof is so important.

Then I’m going to put one layer in the external walls. With the one foot of brick that will be an R21.

I also have to put it around the border of the building on every floor between the joists to keep the radiant heat in my house.

I also need 1600 square feet of Extruded Polystyrine, which is waterproof, to put under the green roof and under the radiant heated concrete slab in the cellar.

So I need about 3600 square feet. I bought 12,500 square feet of insulation!!!! I couldn’t help it! I got a good deal and I really feel the greenest thing is for me to pay one big truck to bring the stuff to Brooklyn and redistribute it to others instead of everyone getting small trucks (which as it turns out isn’t cost effective anyway).

So bottom line: I have insulation for sale. Lots of it. CHEAP, at least half price. Be green and get some! Contact me for details.

unloading the insulation from the 53 foot 18 wheeler

making space

starting to pack the insulation

getting full

taking over the yard

Here you see a nice selection of old cut prime wood. That’s my daughter.

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At the beginning of this job I had to buy my salvaged wood from Fine Lumber in Williamsburg. But now that the local job sites know about my project I get most of my wood from them.

Here you see a nice selection of old cut prime wood. That’s my daughter.

The lower floors of a brownstone are dark so I like light floors to maximize the light.

I’m using them in the cellar where they will be in touch with the ground and where in the past there have been termite problems (thus no wood studs).

[...]]]>

These studs were on their way to the dump until I intercepted the contractor and he let me take them..

I’m using them in the cellar where they will be in touch with the ground and where in the past there have been termite problems (thus no wood studs).